


i fought the demons (that lie in between us).

by flustraaa



Series: never judge a book by its cover [7]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: (bc they’re pinning still at this point), Anxious Alec Lightwood, Coping Mechanisms, Gen, Good Boyfriend Magnus Bane, Good Friend Magnus Bane, Good Sibling Isabelle Lightwood, Good Sibling Jace Wayland, M/M, Overwhelmed Alec Lightwood, Sleepy Magnus Bane, Worried Magnus Bane, alec is a fast guy, exhausted Alec Lightwood, they love Alec so much, zoom zoom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-09
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2020-06-25 06:33:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19740187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flustraaa/pseuds/flustraaa
Summary: magnus is worried, and that is completely understandable within the current predicament.





	i fought the demons (that lie in between us).

Alec’s limbs feel like Jello, eyes fluttering and knees weak. For a brief moment he worries he won’t make the ride up to Magnus’s apartment.

But it can’t be coincidence that his  long  run took him here,  the one place he knows he needs to be. 

He sends a brief wave to Gabriel, the night doorman, who nods as Alec stumbles to the elevator, pressing the button  for the seventh floor. 

He stands in silence, body  sagging against the wall from exhaustion.  He stares at his murky reflection on the metal door. Dark smudges under his eyes, his hair sticking to his forehead limply. He’s too tired to think, almost too tired to  _ breathe _ .

He heaves a sigh as the elevator halts, pushing off the wall, his hazel eyes half closed as he trudges begrudgingly to the white door, tarnished gold reading _7A_. He pulls the light silver chain over his head, the small key dangling from it, and slips the key into the lock. 

The door knob rattles and Magnus perks up from where he lies on the bed.  His well-worn blanket twisted around his legs. “Alexander?” he mutters to himself, trying to rub the sleep from his eyes. There’s a harsh creak as Alec shoves the door open.

He looks like death and Magnus is instantly worried. His tall form was slouched over, his eyes downcast. He lifts his head for a brief second, eyes landing on Magnus. 

“Are you alright, darling?” Magnus asks slowly, getting to his feet.

He watches as Alec blinks, then blinks again, his head falling once more. His slender fingers dance through the air sluggishly, but Magnus can’t make any sense of his sloppy movements. 

Magnus swallows thickly, his hand shaking as he gently takes Alec’s. He guides him towards the bed, scrutinizing Alec’s haphazard gait. Something’s terribly wrong and Magnus’s brain scattered, trying to figure out what it was. His heart is as fast as a hummingbird’s wings, frantic. Alec collapses with a groan, his face pressed against Magnus’s pillow. Magnus sits next to him, placing a hand on his back. His concern is rising; he’s never before seen Alec so… he isn’t sure how to describe it.

Magnus  leans down to run a thumb over Alec’s cheek, before he manages to pull  his long legs  further onto the bed. “Oh, Alexander. What have you done?” His hands fumble for his phone, calling the blond beast, though his eyes never leave Alec. 

“Hello?” Jace’s voice is somewhat annoyed, and very breathless, telling Magnus that he interrupted a prior engagement with Biscuit.  Magnus isn’t worried about  _ that _ in the slightest.

“Alec passed out.” He doesn’t mean for it to come out rushed and husky... it just… does. This is Alexander-- and he’s seen him in most forms but never this vulnerable , this  _ broken _ . 

“He... what?” 

“He just… walked in and-and  _ collapsed  _ on my bed.” 

There’s a pregnant pause on the other end of the line, and Magnus’s heart stalls its rhythm,  shocked into an eerie silence . 

“Jace? Hello?”  Magnus snaps, his phone slipping in his hand.

“Where do you... where do you live?”  he asked calmly.

“Two oh five West and Thirteenth Street, apartment Seven A.” 

“I’m getting, Iz; we’ll be there in ten.

“Thank you,”  Magnus breathed.

Jace acknowledges the gratitude with a somewhat focused  _ hum _ before ending the call. 

Magnus  drops his phone onto the bed as he combs his fingers through the wet locks that hang over Alec’s forehead. 

Magnus wouldn’t be as worried had there been small snuffles echoing throughout the small apartment,  or even the frantic pacing of a panicked college student  as there had been in the nights prior. 

Instead,  there are only breaths, peaking through parted lips. And though they’re calm, Magnus can hear the undercurrent that hitched every few seconds. 

Magnus presses a hand to his best friend’s--his boyfr--his-well,  _ Alec’s  _ forehead, frowning when he hears the crack of thunder that rumbles through the walls of his building. 

Magnus slips his fingers between the gaps in Alec’s, holding it tightly while his other hand runs up and down Alec’s rain dampened arm, trying to bring it back to life from its frozen state. 

The door is pushed open, a frantic Jace  rushing  through with an unusually bleak Isabelle. Her hair is slicked down by the rain and Jace’s hair is tinted brown, clothes sticking to his toned body. 

“Oh,  _ hermano _ ,” Isabelle sighs, somewhat in the realm of fond exasperation. 

It’s not long after that Jace’s blurts out, “Did he sign something before he... y’know, fainted?” 

“I- yeah, but it was so messy and I just...” Magnus trails of helplessly,  his eyes once more flicking back to Alec. He watches Alec’s chest rise and fall, the only indication of life.

“Did it look like this?” Isabelle signals sloppily almost to a tee the exact expression Alec had before succumbing to his body’s demands. 

“Yeah,” Magnus says. “I couldn’t--”

“Sleep,” Jace translates.” 

“Sleep? How could I--”  Magnus begins, blaming his own ignorance.

“Not you,” Jace sighs, walking towards Alec. He sits on the edge of the bed, grabbing the hand Magnus isn’t holding, squeezing a few times. 

Alec lets out a tired noise, rolling in the direction of Jace but not opening his eyes, Jace taps his shoulder signing rapidly the second Alec’s  dazed eyes crack open. 

There’s a  slight  nod from the boy and Jace lets out a frustrated sigh, returning the weak gesture.  Jace lightly pats Alec’s chest. They all watch as Alec’s eyes flutter once more, falling shut.

“What?”  Magnus asks, forcing his voice into a diplomatic calm he used with orny musicians. 

“He ran himself out again,” Jace  explains. His  fingers cover his face for a brief moment before he buries them in his locks of drenched hair once more.

“... again?” Magnus  says slowly, glancing away from Jace. “He’s...” There’s a long pause, Magnus realizes as he tries to calm his raging heart rate. “He’s done this before?”

Jace doesn’t respond, golden eyes focused on a chip in the grey paint on the wall.

“Several times,” Isabelle says gently, walking over to hold Magnus’s free hand, “He started doing it when he left the hospital. He’d walk into one of our rooms and just... flop.”

Her eyes seem to become unfocused as she runs through old memories, and she takes Jace with her. 

and for the thousandth time, Magnus heart breaks just a little more for this family. 


End file.
